Cairns & Port Douglas Deals

This is the only place on earth where two World Heritage wonders meet: the Great Barrier Reef offshore and the Daintree — the world's oldest rainforest — running down to the sand. Cairns and Port Douglas are the twin gateways, and choosing between them is the first happy decision of the trip.

Cairns is the working hub: direct flights from every mainland capital, the widest choice of reef operators, and an esplanade lagoon that solves the no-city-beach problem in style. An hour north along one of Australia's great coastal drives, Port Douglas is the resort town — Four Mile Beach, a marina of reef boats, and a main street that does linen-shirt dining exceptionally well.

Timing matters in the tropics. May to October is the dry season — low humidity, clear water and stinger-free swimming — and it's peak for a reason. November to April is the green season: warmer, wetter, dramatically lush, with the reef still very much open for business and rates at their friendliest.

The reef and rainforest days are where quality varies most — outer-reef pontoons versus crowded inner sites, small-group Daintree guides versus bus tours. When our first deals here land, the experiences will be named operators locked into the package, not vouchers. Join below and you'll hear the moment they do.